Learn To Swim
by s1ncer1ty
Summary: Just a cute little Jyou/Gomamon bonding type ficcy. From Gomamon's POV. o.o


Learn To Swim

Jyou stood up to his ankles in the water, skinny arms wrapped around a shivering chest, as he glared across the surface several meters out where I splashed happily, causing the water to lap higher up his bare legs.

"This isn't such a good idea," he muttered, squinting myopically without his glasses. "I'll probably catch cold. Can this water be any chillier?"

Although sighing inwardly, I turned a cheerful face to my companion. "Once you're all the way in, it won't be so bad," I said. "Come on, Jyou, you promised."

"I know," he replied with a sigh, lacing his arms tighter across his chest. He closed his eyes, steadied himself, and waded out to his knees, still shaking from cold. His shorts darkened as their edges touched the water, and the wetness slowly spread upwards, causing them to cling to his legs. 

"All the way, Jyou," I chided as I easily took a few strokes towards him. "You don't want me ducking you under, do you?"

"I'm almost there," he uttered through clenched teeth, a tinge of both determination and impatience in his voice. 

With an impish grin, I turned over onto my back and proceeded to paddle circles around Jyou as he continued to wince, either at the water's temperature -- since his skinny human body wasn't as well-equipped as my own to handle the cold -- or out of nervousness. Twelve years old, and the boy still couldn't swim! That was why we were out in the water at that hour of the evening -- I just had to give him lessons, so he could understand the beautiful world of the sea better.

When he was up to his chest, I let my legs go limp as I turned myself over in the water and paddled my feet just enough to keep my head above water. "Are you ready for this, Jyou?"

"No," he admitted, eyes turning down towards the water, "but I suppose I'll have to be."

I beamed him my brightest smile. "Okay. Lesson number one: RELAX!" I exclaimed, causing him to jump and his nearsighted eyes to widen. But it got my point across. "The stiffer you are, the faster you'll sink to the bottom."

He laughed nervously. "That's easy for you to say. You've got flippers." 

"And these flippers don't get me anywhere if I'm too tense to use them correctly," I said. 

"Okay," Jyou murmured, shutting his eyes. "Relaxing, relaxing..." But of course, I knew he'd never relax, being such a tightly wound person by nature. 

"Why don't you try lying on your back first?" I suggested. "Try to float. That way you know what your body's doing, and so you're aware of how buoyant you are."

"Just-- let my feet go?" he asked, a frown of uncertainty crossing over his tight features. 

I nodded quickly. "Yup! You can do it, Jyou! Deep breath, and let go."

Jyou took four large, hyperventilating breaths before he gathered the courage to lift his feet from the floor of the lake and lean his body back. However, instead of floating easily, his body ducked under. Thrashing his arms for balance, he came up spluttering and nearly panicked until he found his footing again.

"This isn't such a good idea," he repeated, gasping as he caught his breath. 

"You just need to practice, Jyou," I said reassuringly, paddling closer to him and using my paws to steady his shaking body. Humans really weren't made to survive in the water like I was, but I knew that they could still swim if they had to -- or wanted to. "Try it again. I'll be there for you."

Teeth chattering, he nodded and steadied himself again. This time, it took six breaths for him to collect himself and let his feet leave the ground. As he sank backwards, I ducked my body under the water and positioned myself underneath his back, kicking my feet as hard as I could to support his weight. Even in the water, he was too much for me, though, and the unexpected feel of my body against his caused him to startle sharply and go all the way under. We both returned to the surface, him coughing up a lungful of water and me with an inward sigh.

It was going to be a long night. 

We tried the same procedure four more times, until even my patience was starting to wear thin. I refused to believe it was hopeless for Jyou to learn to swim, but he certainly wasn't helping matters himself. Every time he felt his face starting to go under, his body would tense up, and he'd thrash his arms about in an utter panic. Afraid of the water? How could I have been paired with someone so scared to swim in a mere four feet of water?

As for Jyou, he was starting to get rather discouraged. He was always, by nature, something of a pessimist, but this failure just to float was bringing him down severely. "I can't do this, Gomamon," he muttered, self-disappointment evident in his downcast eyes.

"You've got to trust me, Jyou!" I snapped. Then, softening my tone some in an effort to be understanding, I added, "I will always protect you. Do you think I'd let anything bad happen to you?"

"It's not that I don't trust you," Jyou said in a murmur. "I just... don't trust the water."

I blinked, realizing that my anger was misdirected. "You don't trust the water?" I asked. Then, coming upon an idea, I offered, "Jyou, let me digivolve to Ikkakumon."

"Why?" he asked, lifting a brow. "It's not worth wasting your energy just to teach me to swim."

"I don't want to teach you anymore," I remarked flippantly. "We've had enough for one evening. I just want to talk."

"You want to digivolve just to talk?"

"Please, Jyou?" I asked, batting my large eyes at him in a way I knew always got to him. 

Jyou closed his cobalt-colored eyes and let out a light sigh. I could always push just the right buttons with a look, forcing him to concede. "Okay, but if we meet up with any bad Digimon, you'd better have the strength to fight."

"Of course!" I exclaimed, grinning happily as Jyou's crest began to glow in a soft blue light and I felt my body expanding to an incredible, white mass. "Gomamon! Digivolve to... IKKAKUMON!"

Jyou wrapped his delicate, shaking fingers around my fur and climbed up onto my back. He was about to hoist himself up to his usual position on top of my head when I rumbled softly to him, "Stay on my back. My fur will keep you warm." 

He paused and nodded as I slowly, steadily paddled my way out to deeper water, taking care not to rock my body too much. He lay down and snuggled deep within the fur on my back, and I could feel his heart hammering away inside his chest. 

"What is it about the water you don't trust, Jyou?" I asked. 

Jyou rested his arms behind his head and stared blankly up at the stars above, musing, "I don't know if it's one thing specifically. It's ... unknown. You don't know what's under the water and most of the time you can't see what's beneath. I like to know what's out there before jumping in."

"You sound like Izzy," I said, my body shaking in a light laugh.

"I suppose so," he replied, not finding any humor in the situation. "But think about it, Ikkakumon. What if there's a current under the water you can't see, and it pulls you down?"

"Then you swim with it until you're able to escape. That's when you find your way back to shore. Water isn't something you fight, Jyou."

"Yeah, you just let it fight you," he said quietly. "It takes you over, consumes you. And when it finally tires you out, you go under and you drown." 

Paddling my body deeper still across the lake, I nodded my head slightly, unable to turn back and see the expression in Jyou's eyes. "It's not like that, Jyou. When you're swimming, there's no fighting at all involved. You just have to use the current to your advantage. Like when you're climbing -- you don't fight the mountain, but you find just the right hand-holds to bring you to where you want to go."

"A mountain is solid, though."

"So?" I asked. "That's when you learn to adapt. Sure, water isn't going to be as sturdy as a mountain, but you can still use it to get someplace."

"I just can't stand the thought of losing control," Jyou whispered.

I paused, stroking my feet softly in order to keep me afloat. "That's why you learn technique, Jyou. So you won't lose control. But you've got to start somewhere."

"I suppose so," Jyou said quietly. 

Ever so slowly, I began to lower my body into the water, until it reached Jyou's back. When he let out a gasp of surprise, I shook my head and rumbled, "I'm here, Jyou. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Just keep your eyes closed. I'm still with you."

"O-okay," he stammered. Taking a breath, he relaxed his body slightly, knowing my back was still sturdy beneath his. "You know, it's not that cold out here."

"Your body's getting used to the temperature of the water," I said, sinking deeper, deeper still, until Jyou's body floated easily off my back. 

"I guess it must be," he said with a light smile. "Maybe I can learn to swim. I just have to think of it like climbing, and I know that's something I'm good at."

I nodded, paddling my mass out and floating beside him. "You can't expect to be an expert at your first try, either."

Upon hearing my voice in relation to him, his eyes jerked open, and I was afraid for a moment that he'd panic and sink again. "You're-- not beneath me?" he whispered.

"Digi-Earth to Jyou. How long did it take you to catch on?" I asked with a wink of my eye. 

"I'm -- floating?"

I grinned a toothy grin, although my smile in this form was never as charming as the smile in my Rookie form. "All by yourself. Enjoy it, Jyou."

"Amazing," he whispered, closing his eyes once more, letting his fear go. 

As Jyou floated atop the surface of the lake's water, I watched him carefully, quietly, proud of his accomplishment... And even more proud of the bond we had between us. I would always be there for him, as he learned to swim, no matter where in the world he was. 


End file.
